GUILTY PLEA: Dasha Graham of St. Croix
CHRISTIANSTED – A St. Croix man admitted in federal court on Wednesday that he had marijuana and intended to sell it.
Dasha Graham, 22, of the Candido Guadelupe housing community pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge George W. Cannon, Jr., to possession with intent to distribute marijuana, Acting U.S. Attorney Joycelyn Hewlett said.
Sentencing is scheduled for December 29, 2017, Hewlett said.
According to the plea agreement filed with the court, on March 10, 2017, Graham and a co-defendant attempted to enter the secure parking lot at the District Court on St. Croix to drop off paperwork. Graham was driving the vehicle.
The security officer denied entrance and instructed Graham to park in the visitor lot. Graham refused, creating a disturbance and causing a special agent to approach his car.
The agent smelled a strong odor of marijuana, and Graham admitted that there was marijuana in the car. A search of the car yielded Ziploc bags containing 10 phials of marijuana. When interviewed, Graham stated that the marijuana was his and that he had it for sale.
The amount of marijuana was less than 100 grams.
Graham faces a sentence of not more than five years in prison and a fine of not more than $250,000.
On Oct. 2, 2016 Graham was arrested on St. Thomas as part of the Virgin Islands Police Department’s “Operation Clean Sweep.
At that time he was wanted for third-degree burglary, VIPD records indicate.
The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security Federal Protective Service and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rhonda Williams-Henry.